A tremendous diversity of avian color displays has stimulated numerous studies of natural and sexual selection. Yet, the developmental mechanisms that produce such diversification, and thus the proximate targets of selection pressures, are rarely addressed and poorly understood. In particular, because feathers are colored during growth, the dynamics of feather growth play a deterministic role i...

Ornamental horticulture is a very important economic aspect of horticulture and plays a fundamental part in the way humans interact with and modify the environment. Floriculture is in turn a dominant sector of ornamental horticulture. Now, thousands of varieties of cut-flowers, pot plants, hanging plants, bedding plants, shrubs, lawn and turf, ornamental tree and aquatic plants are available to...

1 This document is Circular 84, one of a series from the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. First published: January 2003. Please visit the EDIS Web Site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu. 2 Roy P.E. Yanong, Assistant Professor, Tropical Aquaculture Laboratory, Ruskin, Department of F...

Plant height is one of the most important traits of plant architecture as it modulates both economic and ornamental values. Crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica L.) is a popular ornamental woody plant because of its long-lasting mid-summer bloom, rich colors, and diversified plant architecture. These traits also make it an ideal model of woody species for genetic analysis of many ornamental trait...

Petal appearance is an important horticultural trail that is generally used to evaluate the ornamental value of plants. However, knowledge of the molecular regulation of petal growth is mostly derived from analyses of Arabidopsis thaliana, and relatively little is known about this process in ornamental plants. Previously, GEG (Gerbera hybrida homolog of the gibberellin [GA]-stimulated transcrip...